Lithuania’s Šiauliai Ginstrektė-Akademija and Polish hosts KS Hokej Start Brzeziny have already rubber-stamped their place in the top four group at the women’s EuroHockey Indoor Club Trophy in Skierniewice.
Šiauliai got Pool A up and running with a healthy 6-2 win over HC Wiener-Neudorf with a brilliant final quarter goal-rush. The game was locked at 2-2 going into the final 10 mintues but a pair from Dovilė Kuklienė in the 32d minute – as part of a quartet during the weekend – soon took the points.
They backed it up with a 10-0 win over Penarth with the goals shared between Samanta Jakovleva (six goals) and Kuklienė (four).
KS Start Brzeziny were also big winners over Penarth, recording a nine-goal scoreline to delight their home crowd – with a strong cohort of local school children in situ – with stars like Paula Slawinska and Monika Polewczak among the goals.
Their second game was much closer with only Dziana Varanovich’s 16th minute goal separating Start from Wiener Beudorf going into the final quarter.
Crucially, she added her fifth goal of the day in Q4 and while Daniela Dragosits pulled one back with five minutes left for the Austrians, Slawinska confirmed the 3-1 win in the final minute.
It means Saturday morning’s meeting between Start and Šiauliai will be for points for the top four group from which the top two will be promoted.
In Pool B, Pinoké produced two double-digit scores to win both of their games on day one to all but complete their passage through to the winners pool.
They opened with a 10-3 win over Cambrai with a hat trick from Sophie Thoolen putting them out of reach before a late barrage of goals.
In the evening session, Thoolen was as it again with seven more goals to her name in a 14-1 success against a very youthful HK Zelina.
Barring a goal difference miracle, they are through to the next phase with the other spot being between KPH Rača and Zelina. Zelina won their meeting early in the day 4-3 courtesy of Luicja Buzjak’s double and one each from Viktorija Zajec and Petra Hrupec.
It saw them build a 4-0 lead before Rača netted three times in the last two minutes to earn a losing bonus point which may be vital. The Slovakian side followed up with a 4-0 win over Cambrai to lift themselves to six points in total, one clear of Zelina on five.
Saturday morning’s contest between Zelina and Cambrai is vital for the former if they hope to overhaul Rača; the French side, though, cannot make the winners pool.
** To follow the scores and fixtures from the competition, click here: https://eurohockey.altiusrt.com/competitions/327
